The present invention relates to basketball rim assemblies and in particular to assemblies designed to alleviate excessive loads applied to the rim.
One of the problem areas in modern day basketball is the abuse to which a basketball rim and backboard may be subjected when a player executes a xe2x80x9cdunkxe2x80x9d shot. In some instances, when the player has completed the dunk shot and is falling toward the ground, the player will grab the rim to retain his balance or possibly break the fall. Also, it sometimes happens that the player will subject the rim to impact loads in the execution in the dunk shot by slamming his arms downwardly against the rim as he is thrusting the ball through the hoop.
Unless otherwise alleviated, the forces exerted on the rim by the various executions of the dunk shot can cause the rim to deform, or more seriously, cause the glass backboard to shatter. In either case, the problems are both expensive to correct and causes unacceptable delay of the game. For this reason, various release devices have been adopted in recent years which permit the rim to xe2x80x9cbreak awayxe2x80x9d from the backboard, rather than receiving the full brunt of the impact forces. Typically, these systems have taken the approach of mounting the rim to the backboard by means of a spring mount that urges the rim towards its horizontal plane position. When a downward force is exerted on the rim sufficient to overcome the forces of the spring, the spring deflects downwardly. Then, when the downward force is released (e.g., by the player releasing the rim from his grip), the spring returns the rim to its plane position. The mechanism may also be provided with means for dampening the return motion.
A number of xe2x80x9cbreakawayxe2x80x9d rims which employ this basic principle are known in the prior art. Examples include those shown in the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,420 (Tyner ""420); U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,734 (Tyner ""734); U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,802 (Ehrat); U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,839 (Simonseth); U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,556 (Estlund et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,294 (Childers et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,071 (Childers et al.). Although these various designs differ in some aspects, they all include complicated designs requiring heavily machined parts, they fail to increase and equalize the strength of the side portions of the rim with the front portion of the rim, and they are limited in the rate that the spring load is activated to return the rim to a generally horizontal position after a downward force is released from the rim.
Therefore, an objective of the present invention is to provide a rim assembly that strengthens the sides of the rim in relation to the front.
A further objective is to provide a rim assembly that increases the rate at which a rim returns to a generally horizontal position after the rim has been subjected to a downward force.
A still further objective of the invention is to provide a rim assembly with a simple design requiring a minimum of heavily machined parts.
The present invention includes three general parts. First, the invention has a mounting unit having a vertical baseplate for mounting to a backboard and a perpendicular mounting plate that extends from the baseplate. Second, the invention has a rim unit with a circular hoop portion and pivot plate that projects rearwardly from the hoop portion toward the backboard in spaced relation above the mounting plate. Third, the invention has a pivot-spring mechanism that allows the rim unit to release when downward force is applied to the hoop portion and return to a generally horizontal position when the force is released. A ball bearing is placed between the pivot plate and the mounting plate and creates a pivot point upon which the pivot plate moves when the rim is confronted with a downward force. At least one stop is positioned on top of the mounting plate extending upwardly toward the pivot plate. The stops restrict the movement of the pivot plate. Finally, a plurality of spring-loaded attachments extend from the pivot plate through the mounting plate. When a load is received on the hoop portion of the rim the pivot plate rotates about the ball bearing in the direction that the load is received. The spring-loaded attachments resist this movement along with the stops. When the load is released the spring-loaded attachments return the rim to a generally horizontal position. The stops accelerate the rate at which the spring-loaded attachments act upon the rim.